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Thursday, January 9, 2014

A little over half way through the season, The Canucks are pretty much
where most expected them to be. They sit 7th in the Western Conference,
and 11th in the NHL. Their Corsi For %, (5 on 5, score close) is 10th, and their goal
differential is 11th in the NHL. They've endured some lengthy injuries
that has challenged their depth, uncovered some gems in Mike Santorelli and Ryan
Stanton, and received quality goal tending from the question mark that was
Roberto Luongo heading into the season.

So, they're pretty much where they're "supposed" to be.
And yet, anyone following the team has witnessed the gut-wrenching ways
they have lost games this season and wondered what the real
identity of this group is. They've outplayed the opposition on most
nights, but they've given up goals in rapid succession, in the dying seconds of
periods, blown leads late, and often.

When leading after two periods, the Canucks are only 15-2-2 (.789) this
year. That's good for 22nd in the NHL. The teams ahead of the
Canucks in the West are 122-2-11 (.904). However, before you blame John
Tortorella for this mess, his Rangers were 16-0-0 last year in those
situations. Also remember that the
Canucks were only 18-2-3 (.783) last year under Alain Vigneault, and also blew
two games against San Jose in the playoffs while leading with under five
minutes left.

In fact, there's a troubling trend for this group over the past few
seasons:

Year

Lead After 2

Winning %

2008-09

30-0-3

0.909

2009-10

32-1-0

0.970

2010-11

38-0-3

0.927

2011-12

32-1-2

0.914

2012-13

18-2-3

0.783

2013-14

15-2-2

0.789

These stats do not even tell the full picture however, as many leads
generated early in the third period this year have also been squandered in the
waning moments.

In fact, when the Canucks are leading in the second half of the third
period, they've managed to forfeit 10 points of their own, and given Western
Conference teams 10 points back.

Game

Time Remaining

Result

Points Lost

Points Given

Oct. 19 vs. PIT

6:48 left

SOL

1

0

Oct. 22 vs. NYI

1:12 left

OTW

0

0

Nov 14 vs. SJ

1:05 left

OTL

1

2

Nov 19 vs. FLA

12:26 left

SOL

1

0

Nov 23 vs. CHI

15:11 (2g - 9 secs)

L

2

2

Nov 25 vs. LA

2:54 left

OTL

1

2

Dec 17 vs. MIN

11:13 left

SOL

1

2

Dec 30 vs. PHI

0:47 left

SOL

1

0

Jan 5 vs. ANA

1:27 left

OTL

1

2

Jan 7 vs. PIT

0:55 left (2g - 16 secs)

SOL

1

0

Funny enough, that’s pretty similar to their performance over a 48 game
schedule all of last season, when they forfeited 7 points of their own, and
gave 11 points back to Western rivals.How do those numbers compare with division rivals Anaheim, Los
Angeles, and San Jose this season?

Team / Year

Points Lost

Points Given

Total

Vancouver 2014

10

10

20

Vancouver
2013

7

11

18

San Jose 2014

4

7

11

Anaheim 2014

5

5

10

Los Angeles 2014

2

3

5

If that wasn’t enough, the Canucks have also managed to give up goals in
the dying seconds of the 2nd period on numerous occasions this year as well (St.
Louis, Detroit, Phoenix, Anaheim, Tampa Bay).
Those back breakers resulted in a 1-3-1 record, giving division rivals 5
more points.

For some, it may not matter when
these goals go in, or how these losses occur, because the Canucks are probably
where they deserve to be in the standings.
However, this is clearly a trend that extends beyond
the last month and a half. The Canucks
have been unable to close games for the past two seasons.